5 Minutes with Meghan Armstrong Peyton

If you had told Meghan Armstrong Peyton a year ago she’d be doing a 3-hour run on a treadmill and thinking about mid-race nutrition, she’d have laughed at you. As a 4:17 1500m runner, Peyton, like most middle-distance runners, thought of patience in terms of seconds, not hours. But a paradigm-shifting 1:13:56 half marathon two years ago in Houston qualified her for the 2012 Olympic trials marathon and set the gears in motion. In the past six months, she’s transformed herself into a mid-race fueling marathoner. Recently, she placed seventh (1:14:57) in a tune-up race at the Rock ’n’ Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon in December, was second in the Manchester Road Race (4.75 miles, 25:03) in November and placed sixth (in a 55:09 PB) at the U.S. 10-mile championships in Minneapolis in October. The Olympic trials marathon on Jan. 14 in Houston will be her first attempt at the 26.2-mile distance.

Running Times: You were a 3K/1500m specialist throughout high school and college until your last year at Iowa in 2008, when you moved up to the 10K. Why this big jump to the marathon?

Meghan Armstrong Peyton: I strongly believed I was a miler until my junior year at Iowa when I went to nationals and did not make finals again. I was heartbroken. My coach tried to convince me that I could be good at longer distances, and I liked 5K, so I thought I’d give the 10K a shot. I ran 10K at the Peyton Jordan Invite and exceeded my expectations. [She ran a 32:59.11 at Peyton Jordan last May in Palo Alto, Calif.] History repeated itself when I joined Team USA Minnesota. Dennis Barker [coach of Team USA Minnesota] first planted the seed of the marathon in early 2011, maybe March. I laughed at him, told him I didn’t think so. He just told me we didn’t need to decide right away, that we could wait until after track season. Well, track didn’t end the way I thought it would, and I was forced to do a lot of soul searching. I looked at other people who had improved on the track after doing a marathon. And I’m not one to back down from a challenge. If it goes well, fine. And if it doesn’t, it will make me stronger on the track.

RT: When was your first 20+ mile run? First 3-hour run? How did that go?

MAP: At Iowa, I never ran more than 13 or 14 miles at a go. Until the fall of 2011, I had never done more than 20 miles. My first 3-hour run, in early October, didn’t go so hot. I ate while I was at work four hours prior, then went out by myself with one GU packet. That’s it. No fluids. The last couple miles, I felt like my head was disconnected from my body — I had to physically slap my face to clear my head. The next one was on a treadmill, not because I love the treadmill, but because I know Houston will be in the 50s and it was in the 20s here in Minnesota, so I wanted to prepare for the heat. I also had fluids right there and I tried out this Perpetuem drink by Hammer that I intend to use in the actual race. It went really well; I felt good the whole time and had no stomach issues. I was mentally fatigued from being on treadmill.

RT: What’s been your most challenging marathon workout?

MAP: Probably an hour tempo run at 5:40 pace, followed immediately by 30 minutes of alternating 1-minute hard/1-minute easy. I warmed up about 3 miles and eked out a mile cool down. I accomplished the goal of the workout, which was to run a long time at slightly faster than marathon pace. It was encouraging.

RT: I assume you’ve had to really exercise patience.

MAP: Yeah. I’ve certainly gone out too fast in a 3K and it wasn’t pretty, but I finished. The price [of going out too fast] is higher in a marathon. I’ve practiced going out slower and being happy with that and knowing it’s the best thing to do because no one knows or cares who’s in the lead at half way or 20 — I want to be there at the end.

RT: Have you had company on your long runs?

MAP: A lot of them, no, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. There are going to be segments of the race when I’m not feeling good and it feels like you’re the only one suffering, but by training alone, I know I can get through that. I was able to do 23 miles once with Katie [McGregor] and I was asking her what to expect, picked her brain. That was really helpful.

RT: Your coach is into visualization — what’s the marathon you’re envisioning? What possible problems are you preparing for?

MAP: I’ve envisioned being strong at the end. I don’t want to think about all the things that could go wrong — don’t want to psyche myself out. I’ve thought about missing a water bottle — I’ll try and grab water at a regular water station — but mostly, I try not to freak out about things I can’t control. It’s too much to expect to escape without something — chafing or blisters or whatever — but in the race, you’re so focused on competition, I’m just thinking about clipping away miles and finishing strong.

RT: This trials has more virgin marathoners than any previous — how do you think that will effect the race?

MAP: Probably not in a way that I would personally notice. I’ve been watching the known big hitters like Shalane and Desiree. In the past, the low 2:30s got on the podium, but I’m wondering if that will be true this year. It sounds like Desiree has been training for 2:22 pace. If she goes out hard, I can imagine Shalane would be on her heels. So there may be some people going out very fast. I’m prepared to be patient, sit back a ways and go with a pace I know is for me, probably 5:45-5:50 to start.

RT: You’ve been called a 'wild card' for the trials — what are you holding? What are your goals?

MAP: I wasn’t really aware I was called a wild card. [laughs] I’ve been happy with my races this fall and I beat some people that have run impressive times in the marathon. Like many people, my goal is to make the Olympic team. If that happened, I’d be ecstatic. But I’d be happy in the top 10.

RT: Do you have a pre-race ritual?MAP: I shave my legs the night before. Must be the night before the race.

RT: Will you become a marathoner from here on out?

MAP: I can’t answer that question until I finish the race. The training is tough but doable. I’ll see how I feel. I will definitely go for the 10,000m on the track in Eugene, and I'm thinking about doubling in the 5K, too.

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